The Mind of the Talmud: An Intellectual History of the Bavli

Hardcover | April 30, 1999

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This critical study traces the development of the literary forms and conventions of the Babylonian Talmud, or Bavli, analyzing those forms as expressions of emergent rabbinic ideology. The Bavli, which evolved between the third and sixth centuries in Sasanian Iran (Babylonia), is the mostcomprehensive of all documents produced by rabbinic Jews in late antiquity. It became the authoritative legal source for medieval Judaism, and for some its opinions remain definitive today. Kraemer here examines the characteristic preference for argumentation and process over settled conclusionsof the Bavli. By tracing the evolution of the argumentational style, he describes the distinct eras in the development of rabbinic Judaism in Babylonia. He then analyzes the meaning of the disputational form and concludes that the talmudic form implies the inaccessibility of perfect truth and thaton account of this opinion, the pursuit of truth, in the characteristic talmudic concern for rabbinic process, becomes the ultimate act of rabbinic piety.

About The Author

David Kraemer is at Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

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Details & Specs

Title:The Mind of the Talmud: An Intellectual History of the BavliFormat:HardcoverDimensions:240 pages, 8.62 × 5.75 × 0.83 inPublished:April 30, 1999Publisher:Oxford University Press